Current through Reg. 50, No. 187; September 24, 2024
(1) The Agency, or
contract management entities in conjunction with the Agency, shall reserve the
right to reject any or all bids or portions thereof under any of the following
circumstances:
(a) When the bidding process,
including the procedure followed by the Agency, involves a material conflict
with a rule or statutory or case law;
(b) When the Agency has evidence to indicate
that collusion exists among the bidders;
(c) When the base bid or the base bid minus
all deductive alternates exceeds the funds available for
construction;
(d) When the Agency
has evidence to indicate the bidder is not in a position to perform the
contract in accordance with Rule
60D-5.004, F.A.C.;
(e) When the Agency has evidence to indicate
the bidder has interest in more than one proposal for the same work;
(f) When the Agency finds the unit price
provided with a bid proposal is not approximately the same as the unit cost for
the same work provided as a lump sum for a specified quantity in the base bid,
or alternate;
(g) When the Agency
determines that the bid is not valid according to the bid
specifications;
(h) When the Agency
determines that a conflict of interest exists.
(2) The Agency also reserves the right to
reject a bid that is unreasonably low. "Unreasonably low" means that requiring
the contractor to perform the contract at that price would be reasonably
expected to result in unacceptable quality of performance or abandonment of the
project; however, this subsection is not applicable unless the bid is at least
20% less than the next low bid. When the Agency suspects that the apparent low
responsive bid is unreasonably low, the following policies and procedures
apply:
(a) The Agency shall advise the bidder
of why the bid is suspected of being unreasonably low and require the bidder to
reconsider the bid.
(b) The bidder,
upon reconsideration, within 10 working days (or longer if the parties agree)
from the date the bidder received the Owner's request for reconsideration,
shall inform the Agency of its position on whether the bid is unreasonably low
and furnish the Agency all relevant information including the documents that
pertain to the reconsideration. The bidder shall demonstrate to the Agency that
its position is correct, whether the decision was affirmative or
negative.
(c) If the Agency
concludes that the bid is unreasonably low, the Agency shall give notice of
intention to reject the bid, subject to the right of the bidder to file a bid
protest. If the bidder fails to furnish evidence in support of the bid, the
Agency may presume that the bid is unreasonably
low.
Rulemaking Authority
255.29 FS. Law Implemented
255.29
FS.
New 7-7-83, Formerly 13D-11.071, Amended 11-5-91, Formerly
13D-11.0071, Amended 8-28-96,
12-3-14.
